Supplementary budget to be tabled today

FINANCE MINISTER Dr Peter Phillips will today table in the House of Representatives the First Supplementary Estimates for financial year 2012-2013.

Last year, Phillips tabled a $612-billion Budget for the current fiscal year. The amount represented $76 billion more than the $536 billion which was allocated during the 2011-2012 financial year.

During today's sitting, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Anthony Hylton will make a statement on the scrap-metal industry.

The industry was reopened yesterday, following a period of closure which was triggered by widespread theft of metal across the country.

Cop injured by prisoner at Supreme Court

A policeman was injured yesterday when he attempted to take away a marijuana cigarette from a prisoner in the cell at the Supreme Court building.

It sparked a confrontation between prisoners and police personnel, who had to use pepper spray to quell the disturbance.

The policeman was taken to hospital where he was treated for an injury above his eye and then sent home.

The prisoner was arrested and charged with wounding the policeman.

Persons on the ground floor of the building were affected by the fumes and one policewoman, who became ill from inhaling the substance, had to be escorted from the premises.

SSP Thompson fined

Senior Superintendent of Police Assan Thompson has been fined $50,000 or three months' imprisonment for failing to provide documents as requested by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.

However, Queen's Counsel K.D. Knight has indicated to the court that Thompson will be appealing.

Thompson was subsequently summoned to the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court for allegedly breaching the Corruption Prevention Act.

Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Dirk Harrison, who represented the commission at the trial, had alleged that Thompson failed to provide a quantity surveyor's report for a property on Karachi Avenue in St Andrew.

He was found guilty by Resident Magistrate Stephanie Jackson Haisley.

Under the law, public servants are required to declare their assets and liabilities annually.

Traffic changes cause hitches in HWT

It was a bumpy first day as traffic changes implemented in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, were put to the test when commuters made their way to work and school yesterday.

The changes, which were implemented by the National Works Agency (NWA), were introduced at the intersections of Constant Spring Road-South Odeon Avenue and Constant Spring Road-Hope Road.

NWA Communications and Customer Service Manager Stephen Shaw said some pedestrians were observed walking in the road and into the path of vehicular traffic, despite being given designated times for crossing.

Shaw said some motorists disobeyed the new traffic changes which restrict left turns onto Suthermere Road from Constant Spring Road and from Hope Road onto Half-Way Tree Road.

He said the agency would continue to monitor how road users adapt to the changes and make adjustments where necessary.